Jack Hudson
Location: The Outer Gate
Jack smiled broadly as Tatiana approved of the name choice. Of course, there wasn't too much of a limit on how many names a kid could have. Three middle names might be pushing it some, but it meant that they could honor more people who were important to them. And in this moment, Jack was sure as hell that he would want to honor James.
"I'm sure he'll love it, solovey," Jack said, returning Tatiana's kiss. He had to consciously stop himself from just getting lost in her eyes. The green amidst the brown always had a way of drawing him in. No shade was more gorgeous than hazel.
Pulling himself away as Tatiana waved towards Froggy and Niesha, Jack noticed the pack that Niesha had with her. It wasn't her personal belongings, allowing him to deduce that it must have been something for James. In that instant, his heart fell. He had been so focused on Tatiana that he hadn't even thought about getting anything for James. He didn't have anything on him that he could give to James, nothing more than well wishes and a hope that he would see James again. Being the namesake for Tatiana's and his child was all he could do.
In the crowd, Jack didn't see any trace of James. Almost everyone in Newnan had shown up to say goodbye, aside from those in essential posts and the like, but the man himself wasn't there yet. Ash and Commander Martin were in attendance, Miss Sally had come with the cowboy's traveling mate, and he saw the Ridgeway sisters arrive with Amelia. He hoped that James would get there soon--not only was it fifteen minutes to give James their best, but it was only fifteen minutes left for James to appear and receive them. They couldn't say goodbye to a person who wasn't there.
However, a certain ginger heading on a warpath caught his eye before he had much more time to search for James.
"Shit..." Jack said quietly. This wasn't going to turn out well.
Beatrice Decker
Location: Building 6 (the Armory) ---> The Outer Gate
Beatrice snorted, imagining the surprise on James' face as to who his traveling companions would be for the end of days. Though there was the off chance that James would refuse their company, Beatrice doubted it. James wasn't leaving Newnan by choice, after all. His original choice had been to live with others in a settlement--people like that tended to rarely go it alone. Hopping out of the truck, Beatrice grabbed her stuff out of the back and slung it over her shoulder.
"Here comes trouble," Beatrice muttered under her breath, purposefully taking a few steps in the opposite direction of the oncoming storm that was Chloe Ridgeway. She had put up with the wedding shenanigans the day before and
really wasn't looking forward to more love in the air. It was bad enough that Riley and Amelia had started shacking up together next door. To be honest with herself, that was one of the things Beatrice was looking forward to when she left Newnan. No more romance, no more love triangles, no more pining. It was exhausting and gross.
Was her opinion on romance formed because of childhood trauma? Sure. Her parents had been foolish drug addicts who went at it and left their kid with their dealer for a babysitter. She had bounced from home to home for almost her entire childhood. Roses and sweethearts were empty nothings to her. Beyond procreation, what point was there when it came to love? It made people act like idiots and ended up getting people killed.
But with what came next, Beatrice wished that she had earplugs.
Chloyan
Location: The Outer Gate
When the trio of Amelia, Riley, and Chloe reached the outer wall, Chloe was prepared to hang back a bit and serve as emotional support to her sister and her sister's beau. Chloe never really got to know James, though she certainly recognized the man. Glancing around, she took in the various people who had gathered there, before her eyes fell on Jim's truck. Seeing that Beatrice seemed to be leaving, Chloe could barely fight a smug smile off of her face. But once she spied Ryan, her eyes narrowed.
"You two good? Good. I've got an asshat to talk to," Chloe said to Riley and Amelia, hardly waiting for their response.
"Aww hell..." Ryan muttered as he watched Chloe, this was not going to be pretty.
"Whatever happens, let it," he said quickly, giving a half ways glance to Ash with a warning not to intervene look in his eyes before he turned his attention back towards the spitfire coming towards him.
If looks could kill, there wouldn't have been any worry about Ryan turning when he died. He would have turned to ashes on the spot. Chloe marched over towards him, seeing red and not even caring that Newnan's Commanding Officer was right there.
"What the hell, you shitface?!" Chloe screamed, swinging her right hand as hard as she could and connecting with Ryan's jaw.
Ryan's head jerked to the side as he took the blow, not even trying to dodge or block it. He let it hit him full force. Reaching up and rubbing his jaw a bit before he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Love you too," he said with an Irish smirk on his face. He should have seen this coming.
For a moment, Chloe was stunned. Why wasn't the man fighting back? Ryan had been in max, she was in min. He had to have been in fights before, and even then, he lived with Eden. It wasn't like him to be this stupid. But her surprise didn't last long, before her anger flared up again. He was going to just waltz out of Newnan without a word and leave her? After everything he had done and said? Hell no.
"Fuck you," Chloe growled, before swinging another punch.
The blood splattered slightly as the other side of his jaw received a matching blow. Ryan just looked over to her as it trickled from his busted lip. There was no anger in his eyes, not malice. He actually seemed to be finding this whole situation funny. He wasn't, it hurt like hell; physically and emotionally. Yet, he hid it well.
"Is that an offer Lass?" he taunted her.
"Dear god you're infuriating!" Chloe groaned. As far as she could tell, he wasn't even taking her punches seriously. Did he not understand how much his actions hurt her? Sure, she was never interested in him sexually, but that didn't mean that she didn't love the guy. She just didn't want to make the beast with two backs with him.
"You wanna tell me why you're leaving me, Irish?" Chloe asked, already getting ready to throw another punch.
Ryan had several reasons for leaving but he really hadn't thought any of them out, he just went with his gut with this one. The idea had popped into his head and he had packed his bags. Sure he knew why but the why didn't matter to him and he was actually a little surprised that it mattered to her. Cocking a brow he wiped the blood that was rolling down from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Spitting out a mouthful on the ground before locking eyes with her.
"Don't fuckin' matter why. I am." Chloe laughed, though it wasn't the good natured chuckle often shared between friends. It was more painful than that. Her best friend was leaving Newnan and he wouldn't even tell her why. Hell, he hadn't even bothered to let her know that he was going to leave.
"You're a real piece of work, Ryan. You spent all that time acting sweet and kind, made me think that we were friends. Good friends. Guess I was wrong." She was too angry to even look at him anymore.
Taking a couple of punches from Chloe was one thing, this was a whole'nother ballpark. Reaching out he grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. He stared her down as his eyes narrowed.
"Don't ever pull that shit with me. You know EXACTLY how I feel 'about you. You want to lock shit away, fine. You want to pull this shit, try it on someone that can't read you like a fuckin' book," he hissed from between his teeth as he clenched his jaw.
"If you can read me so damn well, then you should know exactly why I'm so goddamn angry with you!" Chloe shouted back, looking Ryan directly in the eye this time.
"My best fucking friend is leaving and won't tell me why. Didn't even tell me what was going on. One minute, you're acting like Romeo and the next minute, you're...you're this." She didn't even care how much attention they were attracting at this point. She had tunnel vision in the extreme, not even realizing that most of Newnan was watching the pair of them fight.
"I fucking love you, you asshat!" "And Romeo fucking died for his Juliet," he said as his hand slipped up from her arm and brushed back a few strands of hair that had fallen over her features. He wanted to see her face, no matter how angry she was.
"That's why I'm leaving." Sighing he looked down and coughed a bit, spitting out a little more blood before looking back up at her. His Irish eyes weren't smiling anymore, it actually looked like the former inmate was tearing up.
The look in Ryan's eyes and his answer were all it took to turn some of Chloe's rage into tears.
"I don't want you to die for me," Chloe said, no longer screaming at the man. She wiped a bit of the blood off of his face with her thumb, though she didn't regret her punches for a second. They were a long time coming.
"I don't need that shit. All I want is for you to stay in the shitty old house with me and play stupid ass card games at two in the morning when neither of us can sleep." Sighing deeply, Ryan wrapped his arms around Chloe and pulled her close. Tucking her head beneath his chin he held her tight, as if it was the last time he'd ever get the chance; he was pretty sure it was.
"I'm the lord of the fucking dance, I ain't gonna die," he said quietly as he stood there, rocking her gently as they stood there.
"But I gotta do this. Like it or not. Don't matter Blackneck and I never really got along, he did his job and is part of this fucked up family we call Newnan. So, gonna have my brothers back out there," he added. Thinking back to his own brother and how he failed him. He wasn't going to fail James.
Chloe let Ryan pull her in, wrapping her own arms around him tightly. He was an asshole and drove her nuts, but he was her asshole. Her tears fell onto her chest as she sobbed quietly.
"I hate you, Irish," Chloe said softly, without any anger in her voice. She might have said one thing, but she meant another. And she knew Ryan. There was no way that she could convince him to stay in Newnan, not unless it was her deathbed. He was as stubborn as they came. But she also knew she'd likely never see him again. She wasn't religious--her parents had made sure of that, with the pair of them being Bible Thumpers. To Chloe, this life was it. There wasn't anything else.
Keeping her there, Ryan's arms tightened even more as he let her sob. He felt like doing the same, he never wanted to leave her. He knew nothing would ever come of them no matter how much he loved her but that didn't change the fact that he was madly in love with the woman. Swallowing the lump in his throat he eventually pushed her away and reached up, taking off his gold cross that he wore religiously around his neck. It wasn't that he was religious but it was something that meant a lot to him and he never took it off. Until now. Slowly he strung it around Chloe's neck and fastened it behind her neck.
"I love you too.." he whispered before pressing his lips to her forehead. He wanted to kiss her lips but he'd never do that to her. This was the most he'd take.
"Juliet," he called her before turning away and starting to climb into the bed of the truck.
"Wait!" Chloe called out, not wanting to miss this chance. Holding her hand to the roots of her hair, she took a deep breath before ripping out a small lock. She bit down on her lip as to handle the pain from it. She then held out the brilliant ginger lock to him.
"Take it. It's only fair," she said. Her hair would grow back and it wasn't like she was trying to impress anyone these days. Besides, it was a small piece--small enough for Ryan to fashion into something if he wished.
Ryan stopped and half turned around. He winced a bit as she yanked the lock of hair out but he understood why she was. He had kept a lock of his brothers hair all these years wrapped around his finger after all. Reaching out he took it and gave her a sad smile. He didn't know what else to say without dragging this out any long and making it even more emotional. He just nodded before climbing into the bed of the truck and resting his head against the back window glass. Looking at the hair he ran his fingers through it before wrapping it around his ring finger on his left hand, much like he did with his brothers on his right. He planned to keep it as long as he drew breath.
Chloe didn't know what to say either. She still hadn't fully wrapped her head around everything that was happening that day. She wiped her eyes with her left hand, given that her right knuckles had a bit of Ryan's blood on them still, but that didn't stop fresh tears from welling up in her eyes. Wrapping her hand around the cross that Ryan had given her, it became her most treasured and ironic possession of all. She knew people were staring at her, but she didn't care.
Ravi Chakrabarti
Location: Outer Gate
Ravi nodded at Miss Sally. The woman was a fountain of wisdom from what he had seen, only further reinforcing the British patriot in him. The British just knew best. Looking over at his cheeky mate, Ravi saw him leaning against the wall, the cowboy hat making him easy to identify. He was a bit of a trope, but he was Ravi's brother all the same.
"Yeah, it wouldn't do for him to cause a scene," Ravi agreed, accepting Miss Sally's thanks as she walked off to take care of her own business.
Heading over to Gavin, Ravi heard the beginning of the screaming death match over near Ash. He winced a bit as he looked over, seeing the blood flying.
"Imagine his poor beard, if he had one," Ravi whispered to Gavin. Whenever he saw damage to a man's face, he always got a little more concerned for his beard and its proper care. He had kept it in nearly pristine condition for the four years of the walker epidemic and he wasn't planning on letting its beauty perish.
But he turned his gaze away to look at Gavin, feeling that the screamfest was a conversation that should have perhaps been held with some privacy.
"You're going to come back, mate. One, because you're like a cockroach. I don't think anything can bloody kill you at this point. And two, because I'm giving you this and I'll want it back one day." Ravi then fished into his pocket and pulled out his green card. The thing looked like it had gone through hell but he had kept it all of these years.
"You'll need a reminder of what true beauty looks like, I'm afraid," Ravi joked.
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